Roomate
by Obeku Hiroko
Summary: AU Gaara's fed up with the weather and his irritating classmates. Not only that, but he can't go home for the holidays. Could it GET any worse? CONTAINS YAOI. GaaLee, NaruSasu, KakaIru
1. Home for Christmas

**ROOMATE**

**Disclaimer; **Masashi Kishimoto is the greatest. I am his humble fanfic writing fan. Naruto, all related characters and places are his, not mine. More chapters on the way.

**Warning! **This fanfic contains yaoi! Lots! NaruSasu in the first few chapters, eventually some GaaLee, and maybe a few others (ShinoKiba, KakaIru? I'm undecided) but if any of that offends you, please don't read. Also, some swearing, and some mature themes in later chapters.

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**Chapter One**

"**Home for Christmas"**

Gaara never found cold weather pleasant. Konoha, as far as he was concerned, could have been the Antarctic at that point, and there would have been no difference. He disliked snow, too, since going outside meant wearing ten layers of clothing and looking like Choji, size-wise. The school always insisted that uniform was top-priority, but they seemed to let their guard down when it was snowing, as there were at least sixty blatant uniform code violations every two minutes. Scarves, beanies, gloves and large snow-jackets weren't part of the uniform.

"Aren't you going outside, Raccoon-eyes?" Naruto asked, voice muffled by the large orange scarf he was wearing, wrapped tightly several times around his face and neck. Gaara despised that scarf, it being a Christmas present the loud mouthed blonde had gotten from his partner last year.

"I'd rather eat a toenail." Gaara stated plainly, emotionless as ever.

Naruto screwed up his nose at the thought and shrugged, "Whatever, but Kiba built a new sled, and the hill is totally snowed over. Iruka sensei said he'd ban sledding this year, but he still hasn't gone through with it."

Gaara stared blankly at his irritating friend, cursing the day he'd been assigned to sleep in the same dorm as the knuckleheaded loudmouth. Naruto waited for a moment, for the glaring boy to change his mind, then left.

"Same thing, every winter," Gaara told himself, getting up to make his bed. "I don't see what's so bloody great about frolicking around in some blisteringly cold wasteland of white and coming inside dripping wet and freezing to death." Zipping his thick black jacket up, Sabaku no Gaara made his way from the heated comfort of his dorm, downstairs to the dining hall. Nothing too fabulous for breakfast, but then again, Gaara never paid attention to food.

* * *

"Hot soup and warm cocoa this morning, Gaara-kun!" A loud voice informed the red head, "Isn't that just the greatest?"

"No," Gaara said, not looking up as a tall, green clad boy took the seat across the table from him. Pausing, mid-sip of his cocoa, Gaara peered at the boy. "Do I know you?" He asked icily, putting the mug down.

"You're in my class for arithmetic!" The boy declared, happily scooping up a few hurried mouthfuls of the steaming soup in front of him. "Remember?" He asked, through a mouthful of food.

Gaara stared blankly at the weird-looking person, before shaking his head, "No." Frankly, he probably _had_ seen the excitable boy with the ridiculous haircut before, but he couldn't care less for names and faces. (as much as he thought he'd recall eyebrows like those)

The strange boy's face fell, and he put his spoon down. "I'm Lee," He told Gaara dejectedly, "You helped me with my homework once."

Ah, now Gaara recalled. This kid, he remembered as a loud, excitable, determined fool of a boy who was particularly bad at math. "Lee," Gaara said boredly. "Oh,"

Lee peered at the blank expression on Gaara's face for a moment, before declaring, "You're _good _at math."

"Yes," Gaara replied, wishing deeply that Lee would leave, so he could finish his breakfast in peace. Oh, how he craved school holidays to start, so he could go home, where the ground wasn't covered in snow and annoying, brightly dressed people didn't exist.

Lee suddenly bowed his head over his bowl and began eating like a ravenous dog. Gaara watched this for a moment, expressionless and only vaguely interested. "Slow down, or you'll choke," He told the boy, not particularly wanting to have to save someone from death by soup this morning.

Lee, keeping his head bowed over the soup, paused. "Gaara?" He asked, not lifting his head.

"Hn," Gaara replied absently, watching the top of Lee's head.

"Where are you going for Christmas?"

"Home," Gaara replied, lifting his mug of cocoa to his lips. Christmas was not celebrated in his household, it being only his elder brother and sister there. As far as they were concerned, the holidays were a time for study, and training.

"Oh, where's that? I heard you don't live in Konoha, right?" Lee lifted his head slowly, cheeks flushed pink slightly.

"Suna," Gaara vaguely wondered how much longer he could stand this big eye browed kid, and began eating quickly, wanting an excuse to leave sooner. He didn't wonder about the blush, and he didn't care, either.

"Oh, I heard it's pretty warm there most of the time, is that true? Are you used to the cold weather here?" Lee had finished his soup, and now clutched the steaming mug of cocoa in his hands, sipping it and smiling at the black-and-red figure sitting across from him.

"Yes," Gaara breathed, getting tired of this useless banter, "And no. Oh, look, I've finished my breakfast." Untrue, but Gaara wasn't hungry anymore, and lifted the bowl and mug up before Lee could see inside.

"Oh, wait!" Lee gasped, getting to his feet quickly.

Gaara turned around slowly, his mouth turned down in the most emotionless frown in the world. "Yes?" He asked plainly.

Lee bowed respectfully and mumbled to the floor, "Thank you for allowing me to dine with you this morning." Embarrassment and nerves were etched into every syllable, and Gaara nodded to Lee, wondering a little, now, what had the guy so worked up.

"Hn," Gaara replied, turned, and walked out of the dining hall.

A figure at the table near Lee waited until the red head was completely gone, before standing up to join Lee. "You know, he's not into guys." Came the cruel tone of Uchiha Sasuke.

Lee turned to face the other boy, blushing furiously. "What do you mean!?" He demanded, "He is my friend and I was having breakfast with him!"

This only amused Sasuke further. "Yeah, okay. But, you know, Naruto acted exactly the same on our first dates." The smug, all-knowing tone of his voice made Lee angry. As much as Naruto was his friend, and he didn't want to insult his partner, he couldn't just turn and say nothing. Oh no, he had pride.

Lee turned his eyes down and frowned deeply, "You are rude and inconsiderate, Uchiha." Lee declared, and stormed from the room. Honestly, the nerve of some people!

* * *

Back up at his dorm, Gaara sighed in relief as he opened the door, and was greeted by a blast of warm air. He quickly moved inside and shut to door again, unzipping his jacket and flopping down on his bed. Before he could barely get comfortable, there was a peace-shattering knock at his door. Huffing and sitting up, Gaara walked quickly to the door and flung it open.

"_What?_" He hissed rudely, glaring at the person at his door. "Oh, Kankuro," He said after a quick recognition of his brother, "What do you want?"

Without so much as a 'can I come in', Kankuro barged into the room and flopped down on Gaara's neatly made bed, somehow immediately messing it up. Gaara grit his teeth and shut the door again.

"Did you hear me? _What _do you _want?_"

Kankuro had picked up a book that had been lying on Gaara's bedside table and flipped it open. "Hm, Temari said to tell you something," He drawled, peering at the page he was reading through squinted eyes. "What the fuck language is this in, huh?" He asked, flapping the book in his younger brother's direction.

"Korean," Gaara snarled, snatching the book from Kankuro's hands and clutching it in his fist. "Hurry up and tell me what she wants."

Kankuro stretched obnoxiously. "You've got a comfy bed you know,"

"What the fuck did she say!?" Gaara yelled, throwing the book at his brother, losing his patience with the cocky attitude he always held.

"Said we ain't goin' home this holidays. Said the snow has stopped all the flights to Suna." Kankuro shut his eyes and put his arms behind his head, yawning widely. A few years ago, he wouldn't have tried this with his younger brother; not even for a second. But now, with the kid in a more stable state, he treated him like he'd always wanted to; like a brother.

"We're _what!?_" Gaara howled, staring at Kankuro is disbelief. His entire holidays suddenly looked very snow-filled and tiresome.

"Staying here ain't so bad, bro. Maybe you'll get a girlfriend this year?' Kankuro sat up, looking into his brother's eyes earnestly. The kid was seventeen and still hadn't even been kissed. Ever.

Gaara blushed heavily and turned away, deciding his history project was suddenly much more interesting. "That's none of your business." He growled under his breath, sitting down at his writing desk and dragging out the massively long scroll he'd been writing his essay on.

"Anyway, look; I'll bring our lunches up and eat here, hey? You can't sit in here alone all day."

"Yes I can," Gaara told him, scribbling down notes on a spare scroll. Lunch did sound good, however, so he gave a small nod, without looking up. Kankuro knew he'd appreciate the gesture, so made a mental note to get two lunches today.

* * *

**(Yay! First chapter is up! So what do you think, lovelies? I love reveiws, I LOVE them.**

**next chapter, "Bad Company"! Poor Lee just got in with the wrong crowd. Can Shikamaru convince him how bloody evil Gaara is? Probably not, you know, because convincing people of anything is much too troublesome XD)**


	2. Bad Company

**Dislaimer; **Yeah, yeah, I know I don't own them. So rub it in, why don't you?? Second chapter here, third comming soon! This chapter's took me a whole hour to write. Hopefully there's no mistakes. Mistakes baaad.

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**Warning!** Lotsa yaoi. NaruSasu, GaaLee, etc. Don't like, don't read. Not too much swearing in this chapter, I don't think!

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**Chapter Two**

**"Bad Company"**

"Troublesome." Shikamaru decided. It was the only word for having to drag a sled all the way back up a slope, just to slide back down and go up again. He sat on a small bench and watched his friends as they swooped down the hill, giggling and yelling, then turned and dragged their heavy wooden sleds all the way back up.

Choji, who'd begun huffing and puffing with the effort, had taken a seat beside his friend, at happily sipped on a mug of hot cocoa he'd snuck out of the dining hall. "Hm," Choji said in agreement, taking another sip of his drink. "I reckon they should build a chairlift some time, and make sledding a school sport of something. It's fun…but only on the way down."

Shikamaru nodded, watching Ino for a moment as she crashed into Sakura, and the two fell from their sleds. He cracked a smile and lent back in his chair a little. "If they did, they'd probably ask us to do a fundraiser or something. I don't think they've repaired that toilet block yet, let alone built anything new," He admitted, watching as Ino got to her feet and began yelling at Sakura. Words like 'forehead' and 'pig' floated over on the icy wind from their argument.

Choji nodded and drank deeply from his cup.

"Hey, you boys aren't accusing this school of being cheap are you?" Jiraiya laughed heartily, appearing beside them. Neither boy was shocked at his sudden appearance; people appeared beside you all the time in their school.

"Well, its true isn't it?" Shikamaru asked, not turning his eyes from Ino and Sakura. They'd begun burying each other's faces into the freezing snow, and were both pink-cheeked from the cold.

The spiky haired man nodded, leaning on the backrest of their seat and laughing a little. "Tsunade hasn't given us our yearly grant in a while, kids. Kakashi says she blows it all on the slots before she can get it to us, but I just think she's lazy." He laughed heartily and sat down between the two.

Shikamaru cocked an eyebrow, "There's nothing wrong with being lazy," He informed Jiraiya seriously.

Jiraiya nodded, laughing inwardly at Shikamaru's blatant admittance of his own laziness. The kid was a genius, he knew, but all of his teachers complained of his incredibly bad scores.

"Sakura! Sakura-chan!" A loud, high-pitched boy's voice rang out over the snow. Shikamaru, Choji, Jiraiya and every other person on the hill turned towards the loud, green disturbance.

"Lee-san?" Sakura asked, wiping snow from her face and shooting Ino a venomous glare. "What's the matter?" Her short lived fear of Lee's strangeness returned for a moment, in a terrifying throb as he ran at her, but vanished as she saw the sad look on the boy's face.

"Sasuke-" Lee began, but was cut off by a violently-thrown snowball to the face. He made a small noise of pain, and fell onto his backside, blinking in shock. Snow dripped from his face slowly.

Sakura gasped in shock and dropped to her knees in front of him. "Oh, Lee, those jerks!"

Lee wiped the remaining snow from his cheek and grinned bravely, "No, I am okay. I am sure they were just-"

"Hey, bushy-brows!" Naruto waved franticly to Lee as he ran towards him and Sakura. "Sorry! Sorry! I was aiming for Sakura-chan's head!"

Sakura gave him a death glare, and stood up, offering Lee her hand. Lee turned his nose up at the gesture and jumped to his feet. "I am not weak anymore, Sakura-chan." He told her. She couldn't help but notice the bruise swelling up on his cheek, however.

Naruto rubbed the back of his own head and grinned at both of them, before taking off to attack Kiba with a flying hug.

Lee looked at Sakura earnestly, "I wanted to tell you something," He began lowly, "Sasuke thinks I like Gaara. I just wanted to tell you that I don't, before he tells you I do." The boy looked very flustered, and, along with the bruise, his cheeks were now red.

Sakura blinked, wondering why on earth it was so important to Lee that she heard that, but nodded anyway. "I'll remember," She told him, smiling.

Lee grinned thankfully, and bowed to her. "Thank you, Sakura-chan. You are truly honorable and beautiful." The words held little impact to either of them, now, having been said, discussed, and said again so many times now.

They waved and exchanged smiles, before Lee departed for the school building, and Sakura began searching for Ino, to seek revenge.

* * *

It was much later in the day, when Lee was desperately trying to figure out his homework, that anyone mentioned breakfast again. Shikamaru had brought it up, having heard from Sasuke that Lee was 'getting close' to the blank and disturbed Suna boy.

"What do you mean I shouldn't sit there again?" Lee asked, eyes wide. "Shikamaru, that's silly! There's nothing wrong with Gaara-kun."

Shikamaru massaged his forehead grumpily, not wanting to trouble himself with other's social lives. However, he had seen Gaara beat the living hell out of more than one student in the school, and distinctly remembered that girl who'd been in intensive care for touching his hand. Lee was his friend, too. A person who he talked to from time to time, actually, but a friend, no less; and Nara Shikamaru protects his friends. "Lee, you think too well of people, sometimes. Gaara is-"

"Gaara is fine!" Lee huffed, turning in his chair to glare accusingly at his friend.

"He's dangerous, Lee, everyone knows it. Just...stick around us, okay? Don't go near him."

Lee turned his back on Shikamaru and frowned deeply. He knew it. He knew all too well what Gaara was capable of. He'd found out first-hand a few years back, in gym class. The school's reputation for sport excellence was renowned, and the selection for their representing team had been a rough competition. Half way through, Lee had gotten on the wrong side of the boy, and ended up in the hospital for weeks, with a broken arm and leg. He remembered all too clearly, but hadn't wanted to bring it up with Gaara. The disturbed teen seemed to forget faces quickly, and Lee wasn't quite sure why, but he was glad of it. Talking about the incident would make their friendship...strained.

Friendship? Could it be called that? Lee wasn't sure why he was so intent on befriending Gaara. It could be that the red-headed boy seemed so lonely, with his dark eyes and emotionless stare, but Lee wasn't entirely sure that was it.

"Lee?" Shikamaru's voice interrupted Lee's thoughts, causing him to jump a little.

"Shikamaru, I want to be friends with him. He is so alone." Lee whispered, eyes shimmering with all seriousness. "Please. I can take care of myself."

Shikamaru sighed and shrugged. "How troublesome," He mumbled to himself, and left for lunch.

* * *

**(I know these chapters have been short, but hopefully the next will be a little longer! Reveiws make Shukaku happy. **

**Please note that, obviously, this is an AU, but I'm gonna try and keep to the main events of show as best as I can. No ninja, no powers, and Suna and Konoha are alot more like average towns/cities then in the show, but I'm gonna work my AU majiks. 3**


	3. The Shukaku

**Disclaimer; **No, I don't own Gaara, or any other character or place in Kishimoto's magical mind. This is an AU, obviously, so yeah. Yay, chapter three!

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**Warning! **This. Contains. Yaoi. Not this chapter, explicitly, but this story in general. Swearing, mature themes and other such are going through it too, without me knowing . GaaLee, NaruSasu and more.

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**Chapter Three**

"**The Shukaku"**

It had been four years since Gaara last visited the mental hospital in Suna. Kankuro and Temari had been taking him there, ever since he was little. From his birth, Gaara had a strange condition, which no one could understand. The doctors called it schizophrenia. Gaara called it Shukaku. The symptoms were unrecognizable, and the doctors who didn't say Gaara was skitzophrenic, said he was just cursed; he had a perpetual darkness around his eyes, which appeared as a bruise, or as though he hadn't slept, and two personalities. One was his normal condition. When he was young, it had been as any normal child, though he was lonely and neglected because of his condition. When he was older, he became cold and distant from everyone, even his siblings. The other, in which he became insanely violent and found death and blood spill hysterical, was Shukaku, Gaara told them. The blood-craving demon. Gaara carried a knife everywhere with him, and had incredible reflexes, making him practically impossible to hit, and was dangerously violent when provoked. Even grown men feared him.

Eventually, the split personality faded away, though the bruises, pale skin, and the perpetual calm, mysterious air about the Suna teen did not. Gaara continued to carry a knife, and continued to be hated, and hated them in return. When he was young, he'd taken up his trusty knife and carved the kanji of love into his forehead, declaring, from that moment on, to love only himself, and fight only for himself.

The second day in a row that Lee insisted on sitting by him for breakfast confused and irritated him. Friendship, he considered ridiculous, and had only began even treating his siblings as anything but strangers to be despised and mistrusted a few years back.

"So you're not going home anymore, hm? I heard the flights to Suna were cancelled." Lee insisted so painfully on making conversation that Gaara wanted to smack him, but resisted, for some reason. Maybe he was scared to touch those eyebrows?

"No." Gaara stated tiredly, his chin resting on one hand. Breakfast was eggs and toast, this morning. Very unoriginal, Gaara decided, for the first time ever, more interested in his food than anything else.

"Oh, that's good! I'm not going home either, we can hang out some!" Lee declared happily, stuffing toast into his bizarrely large mouth and chewing loudly.

Gaara's eyes widened, and his jaw clenched. _Kill. Kill._ He wanted to kill and mutilate everyone in the school for a moment. He'd long learnt to control this, and the feeling soon passed, and his expressionless demeanor returned. "Oh, yay." He uttered hopelessly, staring at Lee's face emotionlessly.

Lee grinned obliviously, toast crumbs stuck to his face. "You know, Gaara-kun, you're not as bad as everyone thinks. _I_ like you." He told Gaara earnestly.

Gaara's eyes, which had been staring at his own breakfast absently, swiveled up to look Lee square in the eye. "You _like _me?" Gaara repeated incredulously, staring deep into those round, excitable eyes. His closest friend, other than his siblings (which could hardly be called that; more acquaintances, which he liked to talk to every now and then), was Naruto; and he didn't even like the boy half the time.

Lee nodded honestly, smiling. "You are nice, and you reply to everything I say," Lee's face fell a little, and Gaara felt his heart give the faintest twang of guilt, "Not many people listen to me, you know."

"Oh?" Gaara asked, sitting up and paying a little more attention, "You've got _some _friends though, right?" He shouldn't have cared; he really should not have cared. _Love only yourself!_ He reminded himself cruelly, but it was suddenly much more difficult than he remembered.

Lee shrugged sadly, crumbs still littering his round face. "A few, but they don't like to talk to me for very long. Sakura-chan is nice, so is Naruto-kun…but my other friends get annoyed with me fast, and some ignore me altogether."

Gaara wanted to get up and leave. He could feel the painful bonds of sympathy winding their way towards the tall, loud boy across from him. He begged himself to not say anything else, to not get involved. "I know…exactly how that feels. But, it is usually fear that prevents people from wanting to talk to me. People fear me. Don't you?" Gaara suddenly recalled where he'd first seen the boy with the funny haircut. This was the boy he'd nearly killed, all those years ago, in the school's Representing Team selections! The boy who he'd broken his arm and leg, and put him out of action for the rest of the selections. He remembered nearly killing him, when the boy's sensei had jumped in and called everything off. So, why hadn't he mentioned it? And why was he sitting with him now, calmly talking to him, telling him he wanted to hang out? Gaara felt his heart and head throb simultaneously with confusion.

Lee had been staring downward; cheeks flushed red and shoulders squared. "I don't. I think you're just like everyone else; just misunderstood."

That hit a chord. Gaara's hand sprung up to his chest and clutched tightly at his heart. His other hand snaked its way up the side of his head, clutching at his hair and skull, bowed over, body shivering. He _didn't understand_, and it _hurt._

Lee, looking worried, reached out to touch Gaara's hand, frowning nervously. "Gaara-?" His voice was cut off with a yelp as Gaara's lightning reflexes caused a hand to whip up and grab the other boy's wrist tight. Lee's eyes widened a little, making them rounder than ever, as Gaara turned his head slowly up to look Lee dead in the eye, with those dark, foreboding eyes of his.

"M-misunderstood?" Gaara's voice trembled, with every syllable, "Y-you think I-I'm…" He couldn't say it, he really couldn't. Not without reverting to Shukaku for the first time in years, and slaughtering everyone, save the boy in front of him; with those round, caring eyes. He _cared. _WHY!?

Lee nodded slowly, concern etched into his entire figure. He was upset and worried about his friend, wanting to comfort him desperately. It seemed, though, no matter what he did, Gaara became more angry and shaky. "I do. Everyone else tried to stop me hanging out with you, but that's stupid. I want to be your friend."

Gaara froze; his eyes, which had been darting back and forth a moment ago, snapped back to Lee's face. "My friend," He breathed, staring deep into Lee's eyes. This boy, whom, a moment ago had been so boring Gaara wanted to hang himself, had suddenly become the most interesting person Gaara had ever met. His friend, his only friend?

Lee nodded again, quicker this time, smiling. "Yeah, Gaara-kun!" He declared, "So, we're gonna hang out at Christmas, hm? I'll buy you a present!" He grinned, at last wiping the toast crumbs from his face and taking another bite of his breakfast, chewing loudly.

Before Gaara could nod, he felt a familiar hand clap his back, and he lurched forward, teeth grit. Without turning around, the dark-eyed boy hissed through his teeth, "Kankuro,"

"Hey, bro!" Was Kankuro's irritatingly happy reply, as he took a seat beside his brother, snatching up some toast off Gaara's plate and munching on it happily. "What's doing?"

"Nothing." Gaara said plainly, all interest and expression that the strange boy sitting across from him had kindled vanishing.

Kankuro, chewing obnoxiously on his stolen toast, noted Lee. He gestured with his toast to the boy and asked, with a mouthful, "Who's 'at?"

"Lee," Gaara said, blinking tiredly. "He is my friend."

Kankuro stopped chewing, and his eyes widened. "Lee." He stared incredulously at the boy with the stupid haircut, and even stupider eyebrows. No one had ever wanted to be Gaara's friend, aside from the loudmouthed knucklehead, Naruto; and he could barely be called a friend. In all honesty, he didn't want Gaara to have another friend. Friends were dangerous. Friends made Gaara start thinking about everything he'd ever missed out on in his life, and made him confused and angry. As ugly and stupid as this kid was, he didn't want him dead.

Gaara peered at Lee, still rolling the concept of the boy's friendship over in his head. The words sounded okay to him in his head, and sounded okay out loud. "Yes," He informed Kankuro, "Now go away." He wanted to spend time with…with his _friend._

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**(Yay, the third chapter is up! Kankuro loves reveiws.**

**THANK YOU TO ALL MY REVEIWERS! I love you all! Those fabulous comments spurred me to make this chapter so much faster, to please you all. Next chapter soon!)**


	4. Only Friend

**Disclaimer; **Ahem. Naruto and all related characters and places are not mine, Their Kishimoto Masashi's. Bow. BOW TO HIM. Next chapter should be very very soon

**Warning!** Yaoi in this story! GaaLee, NaruSasu. None, really, in this chapter. A tiny swearing in this chapter.

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**Chapter Four**

"**Only Friend"**

When Gaara was younger, his room was his sacred place; a secret, dark, impenetrable mystery, which neither of his elder siblings had dared to enter. Evidence of Shukaku's violence, and Gaara's insomnia riddled every inch of the dull little room. Loud, angry music constantly pounded from within, and when Gaara had taken up smoking, it had seeped out, making anyone who walked past turn their head to the scent. When he'd moved to the academy, and been placed in a dorm with Naruto, and the two had clashed. Naruto wanted to know who on earth the dark eyed, silent red-head thought he was, the way he acted, and Gaara wanted nothing to do with the noisy, brightly dressed blonde.

Kankuro stressed desperately to everyone, every teacher, every student, to treat Gaara as well as he and Temari tried to do, but to no avail. No one could see why the boy deserved special treatment, until he attacked Lee. In the selections, he'd been a mystery. '_That kid that Kankuro had warned everyone about_,' and that was about all they knew. Unfortunately, it was Lee who'd found out the hard way, with a broken arm and leg, and from then on, Gaara was a well-known force to be reckoned with; everyone was frightened of him…again. A few morons crossed him, with lesser fates than Lee, and a few bigger morons crossed him, and ended up near dead.

Kankuro was the only one who ever saw through Gaara's cruel personality to his true heart, and loved him dearly for it. He knew how difficult every day Gaara lived was, and appreciated how truly difficult it was. Gaara did not know, nor care about this until he was at least halfway through his teen years. By the time he was seventeen, Kankuro was Gaara's confidant, advisor, and most importantly, at last, regarded as his brother. Kankuro was his only friend.

Gaara would never tell Kankuro how much he adored him. Niichan, there on cold, or lonely days. There when he hated himself, there when he needed him most. There when he couldn't sleep.

Today, Kankuro had decided he felt particularly annoying, and had decided to flick hot peas from his ham and pea soup at his older sister. Breakfast had never been so sticky.

Temari lifted a hand and effortlessly caught one of the little green projectiles in her hand, glaring daggers at Kankuro. "Stop it," She warned, lowering her eyes back down to her own breakfast and chucking the pea aside.

At that exact moment, a certain tall someone, with an insanely perfect bowl cut and just as bad eyebrows, wearing a tight green turtleneck jumper, just happened to be passing by. The offending vegetable had flown directly into the side of Lee's face, causing him to cry out in shock and drop his breakfast all over the floor. Gulping down offended tears, Lee dropped to his knees to salvage what he could. Unfortunately, this was only a single piece of toast, which, of course, had landed butter-side-down. The rest, his soup and hot lemon tea, was sloshed across the floor.

Temari, hearing the massive racket of Lee's lunch tray crashing to the ground, had turned around. "Oh!" She gasped, "Oh, god, I'm so sorry!" She remembered the poor boy from the selections, and knew that he was well aware of her relation to Gaara. Getting up from her chair, she knelt next to him, smiling apologetically. "Lee, right? I didn't mean to hit you, my brother was being a bastard."

Lee nodded, avoiding Temari's eyes and scooping his teacup and bowl back onto his lunch tray, putting the solitary piece of toast in his mouth and chewing it down inhumanly fast. He'd recognized the blonde girl in a second, and desperately wanted to avoid her. He'd heard of her vicious personality, and her sharp wit from Shikamaru many times, and knowing all too well that she was Gaara's eldest sibling, he figured she'd have a thing or two to say about his friendship with her littlest brother. "Uh, it's okay," Lee whispered, getting quickly to his feet and trying to push past Temari.

She'd stood up just as quick, and grabbed Lee's shoulder. "Hey, look, I'll vouch for your replacement lunch, hm? I'll tell them it was my fault." Her smile seemed scary to Lee, somehow, and he desperately tried to push past her again.

"Uh, no! No, it's fine, really!" He tried to laugh, but it came out high and nervous.

Temari frowned. She might owe it to this boy to help him out, after all, it was _her _little brother who'd put him out of the selections, and any sport for that matter, for months, but he seemed very irritating and bizarre. She forced a smile and held Lee more forcefully. "I'm gonna get you your breakfast, whether you like it or not, kiddo. I owe it to you."

Lee looked out of breath from being so frightened, and his eyes darted to Kankuro. The darkly-dressed older boy, with purple eyeliner and matching lipstick, grinned to Lee in recognition. Lee remembered that the bizarre teen hadn't been too favorably inclined towards his friendship with Gaara, but had told him (once Gaara was out of earshot, of course) that he appreciated his bravery, and kindness. Lee also remembered his dire warnings of Gaara's violence and unpredictability.

Hoping desperately Temari was as kind-hearted as her two brothers, Lee allowed himself to be dragged away by the determinedly nice girl.

"He really _is_ weird, isn't he?" Kankuro asked Gaara, as he'd recently appeared beside him, setting down his plate and flopping apathetically into the seat beside his older brother.

"Hn," Gaara replied.

Kankuro turned his eyes down back to his breakfast, staring at two peas circling a bobbing cube of ham. It was difficult to place the empty feeling he got, realizing horribly that he was no longer his little brother's only friend. "Gaara?"

Gaara's head jerked in his brother's direction, a frown dousing his usually calm face. "You sound sad." He noted, looking ever-so-slightly concerned.

"I…I'm not, bro. Just promise me something, okay?" Kankuro turned his face to his brother, leaning on his elbow and resting his cheek on his hand.

Gaara nodded slowly, listening intently.

"Promise to let me fucking kill him first, if he hurts you."

* * *

**(Whoo! I struggled a little with this chapter, but expect the next real soon! The story's flowing itself through my brain nicely now. **

**Short-On-Ideas- Thank you so much for your kind words! You're really inspiring me to write more.**

**Miharo- Keep reading, I love your comments.**

**Heaven Or Hell- Updating is fun. Update for you!!**

**All my other reveiws! I love you all so much!! ****Lee loves reveiws, so keep 'em commin'!)**


	5. You and Your Boyfriend

**Disclaimer;** Nope, I still don't own Naruto and co. if only! This chapter is a little mor with the feel of the rest of my stories, finally...I don't know what happened to the first four XD.

**Warning!** Yaoi, and some gore in this chapter! Poor Sasuke! GaaLee, SasuNaru. Some swearings, and a fair chunk of mature content. It's the NAUGHTY chapter so far. Rebel.

****

**Chapter Five**

"**You and Your B****oyfriend"**

It was a war of the ages, the day Gaara returned to his dorm to find his room mate and his room mate's boyfriend viciously making dry love on his bed. Gaara was revolted, and, to say the least, pulled Sabaku, his trusty knife, and weapon of choice out again. The mingling bodies had been torn apart ruthlessly, the one in orange thrown across the room, the one in black slammed up against the wall, held up by the throat.

Gaara had never approved of Sasuke and Naruto's relationship. He found the idea of two loving one another so improbable, and the fact that they were both men even worse. He spent hour upon torturous hour avoiding every sign of the relationship that littered Naruto's side of the dorm; but this was the final straw.

"You're fucking _sick_!" Gaara screeched into Sasuke's face, pressing Sabaku against the terrified boy's neck. "I'm gonna kill you! You fucked on my bed, you bastard!" He screamed, looking nothing short of insane.

Sasuke struggled, glowering determinedly at Gaara. He wouldn't show the outsider just how frightened he was. He had pride, damn it. "Try me!" The Uchiha hissed, spitting in Gaara's face.

Naruto, who'd been stunned and knocked temporarily unconscious, awoke to the sounds of Sasuke's horrified and pained screams.

"Let me go! Let me go!" He howled, punching and kicking at the boy on top of him. Gaara had gouged the blade of Sabaku deep into Sasuke's arm, and was slowly twisting it around, eyes alight with bloodlust and insanity. Naruto, eyes widening in terror, scrambled towards the two, his room mate and his boyfriend, getting blood on his hands as he tried to push Gaara off his wounded loved one.

Sabaku was torn from Sasuke's arm and slashed mercilessly at Naruto. The blade cut deep into Naruto's chest, causing him to withdraw in pain. Seeing his chance, Gaara brought the long old knife back down to Sasuke, carving it into his arm again. Sasuke roared in pain as the blade dug deep into the open wound and was twisted once more. Raw flesh was torn open again, and blood gushed out and onto Gaara's hands, making him more and more unstable.

Naruto, sitting on his knees and clutching his own wound, grit his teeth. '_I can't let him just get away with this! But if I go for him again, he'll just slash at me…so what can I do??'_

"Gaara!" Someone else had walked into the room, Naruto realised, not turning his eyes up. It was a boy, around his own age, with a higher-pitched voice, filled with an edge of fear and panic. He could almost feel the boy's eyes widen in horror.

Gaara didn't turn to the voice, instead pushing Sabaku as deep as it would go, right up to its hilt. One foot was firmly planted on Sasuke's neck, stopping him from struggling, and the other was stomping down on one of Sasuke's hands. His spare hand was holding the Uchiha's other shaking and twisting arm with an incredible strength. Sasuke's legs kicked and writhed, but couldn't shove the twisted Suna teen off of himself.

Naruto managed to bring his eyes up to see who the speaker was, and found himself gazing upon his long-time friend, Lee. The tall boy's eyes were full of panicked tears, and the tray he was holding, which had two neatly stacked lunches on it, was rattling as his hands shook in fear. "Gaara, stop it!" Lee demanded, hands tightening around the edges of the tray, cheeks flushing red with emotion. "Stop it right now!"

Gaara froze. His entire body seemed to be overcome with numbing calm. Naruto looked over to him in time to see him collapse, off Sasuke and onto the ground beside him, in a useless, blood-soaked heap.

Lee ran to Gaara's side, dropping to his knees beside the unmoving boy and placing the tray of food aside. "Gaara," Lee pleaded, "Gaara…"

Naruto had scrambled towards Sasuke, pulling the bloodstained knife from his shoulder and tossing it aside, pressing his hands down over the gushing wound. "You're gonna be okay, teme, you better fucking be okay," Naruto told Sasuke, holding him close, pulling him away from Gaara's body. Sasuke had been injured worse than this, and been perfectly fine, so Naruto knew immediately, once he saw the wound, that he had nothing to seriously panic about. It wasn't near anything too vital, and the blood wasn't coming from any main arteries. Sasuke would be fine. Laying a few reassuring kisses on his partner's forehead, he whispered, "It's not so bad,"

Lee watched, eyes full of tears, as Naruto hefted Sasuke to his feet and slung his uninjured arm over his shoulder. "We're going to the med ward, Lee. If I see Kankuro, I'll send him here, okay?" Naruto tried to sound calm, but he had no idea of the state Gaara would be in after such a serious breakdown. He figured the kid's older brother would know what to do.

Lee nodded weakly, and watched the two boys leave. As soon as they were gone, and the door was shut, Lee broke into terrified sobs, taking in the bloodied knife and the glaring red stains on the carpet, and Gaara's shirt. Gaara's pale hands were soaked in Sasuke's blood, making them bright red and wet.

Gaara's world was black and silent. Shukaku hadn't managed such an outburst for at least five years, and it had left the thin red-head drained; and once Shukaku faded, left him unconscious. It felt like dying, Gaara decided, as he came slowly back to consciousness. He was unaware of how long he had been in that state, and knew not who was with him. He sensed warmth, and comfort. He felt a radiating compassion from the person who was with him, and wondered if he had really died this time, and he was in heaven. Pale ocean green eyes, surrounded by black, fluttered open. They meet worried, teary black eyes, with big eyelashes and even bigger eyebrows.

"Lee," Gaara breathed, knowing at once who was with him.

"You _scared _me, Gaara-kun," Lee whispered, brushing Gaara's sweat-drenched hair from his pale forehead. He'd dragged Gaara's limp body onto his lap, and held him close with one arm, and ran his other hand in comforting circles on Gaara's shoulder. "I thought you died," There was not a mention of the blood, or the insanity. Lee didn't care about that now that Gaara was okay.

Gaara blinked drearily up at the face of an angel. '_I died and went to heaven. This can't be Lee. It's not Lee!' _A weak, shaky, bloodstained hand raised to touch Lee's cheek. "I'm sorry," He managed, wide, fascinated eyes searching the stranger who looked like Lee's face. There were no words for what he was seeing, so it went unsaid. Gaara didn't think it mattered anyway, if he was dead.

Lee laughed quietly, the sound seeming like some sort of incredible music to Gaara's ears. When had Lee's voice sounded like that? "It is okay, I am just glad you are alright." Lee told Gaara seriously, running his fingers through Gaara's fringe again.

"…you saved me," Gaara told Lee, trying to sit up. He felt much better, and could feel his pulse returning to normal speed, and the blood flowing back into his limbs. He actually felt a little hungry.

Lee helped Gaara to sit up gently, sitting back and holding one of Gaara's hands tight, getting his own hand covered in Sasuke's blood, too. Gaara's eyes never left Lee's face, searching it for some sign of what had happened to the annoying boy he'd sat down to lunch with, only days ago. Lee noticed Gaara's stare, and his cheeks flushed red. "Do you want to lie in your own bed, Gaara-kun?" Lee asked, sounding a little shy under Gaara's interrogating eyes.

Gaara shook his head, his expression unchanging. "No," He said quietly, hand curling tightly into Lee's. "I want to lay with you." He meant it, too. The warmth and comfort that seemed to radiate from the former source of irritation was something Gaara wasn't going to give up easily.

He wasn't giving him up. Not now.

* * *

**(Well, at last something proper has happened between Lee and Gaara! Neither of them know it's love yet, though, so don't get your hopes up just now hehehe evil**

**Apie- My gosh you're a fool youth indeed flows through my keyboard and fingers as I type. Do I spy SasuNaru in this chapter:D I do[points to her that's my RL friend. shakes head she's a nutter, but makes me feel warm and less lonely. Yay!**

**Miharo, Short-On-Ideas, Heaven Or Hell- I love you guys!**

**Cyberchick- Ah, you're so gosh damn creative I can't wait to nab your idea... .> sneaky hehe, I love your reveiws, keep them comming!**

**Hey, next chapter will be up super-soon! flies to word document three cheers for bad Room Mates!)**


	6. That Blonde Whirlwind

**Disclaimer; **Ayup, I don't own them, still. Hurr. Excuse the weirdness of this chapter, it just doesn't seem to flow properly to me...

**Warning! **Yep, it's that yaoi-thing again. There's KakaIru in this chapter, though it's uberly-mild, because I like to torture you all. GaaLee, NaruSasu, you know the works. Mature content, adult themes, yadda yadda yadda. ON TO THE STORY!

**Chapter Six**

"**That Blonde Whirlwind"**

Iruka had always tried to convince himself to let go of Naruto. That the boy had grown well past the father thing, and to leave him be with his life and friends. That it wasn't fair on him, especially since he, personally, had never appreciated people trying to 'replace' his lost parents. However hard it was, though, he always felt like he had to throw a bit of encouragement, a bit of advice, or a stern word towards the blonde every now and then.

It was never his choice to box Naruto and that highly disturbed Suna red-head in a room together, but in the end, after a few rather violent (and altogether panic-inducing, on Iruka's part) fights, the two had ended with a silent understanding, both coming away better people for having met one another. Gaara, with a knowledge that there were people out there who could understand him, and care, and Naruto, that sometimes being alone is a lot harder when you really are _truly_ alone.

The teacher's lounge was a loud, musty, coffee-smelling place. Most of the teachers, Iruka had noticed, surely must have been hired for their clashingly outrageous personalities; the worst being Mito Gai, a green-clad hurricane of noise and individuality. He hated to imagine what he would have been like as a kid; attention demanding and loud, and still with those_ eyebrows_. The lounge had three ridiculously red couches, a coffee table and a bench with a sink and cupboards. It wasn't a necessarily big room, but it fit the teachers in it well enough.

Lunch time was hell. Probably only Iruka thought so; but the whole ordeal certainly was difficult, though at the same time bizarrely routine. Iruka was always first in. He'd turn the coffee machine on and pull his packed lunch from the fridge. Before he ever had a chance to take a bite of it (no matter how hard he tried) Gai would come bursting in, sweat-soaked towel around his broad shoulders, hideous haircut stuck to his doubly hideous eyebrows from perspiration, and that idiotically proud, flashing grin on his over-manly face. It was hard not to flinch. Immediately he would boast of his student's improvements, and talk loudly about how fantastically youthful they were. Mid-boast, Kurenai would wander in, trying not to become the center of Gai's attention while making coffee at the same time. Somedays she managed, and could have lunch in peace, other days she would have to endure an entire lunch hearing about Lee-san's latest lap time.

Somewhere between Kurenai and Gai, Jiraiya would manage to slip in, taking His Seat (that being the one where it had a permanent groove shaped like his behind from sitting there every lunch for the past ten or eleven years.) and sipping a bottle without a label.

Three or four of the newer teachers would wander in, all wide eyed at Gai, still not entirely accustomed to his uniqueness, and begin their lunches. So many of the people Iruka had known and loved working with had either changed schools or passed away. It depressed him a lot to see the teachers that took their places, but he blocked it out with some persistence.

Kakashi, to Iruka's annoyance, was always the last one in and the first one out. He seemed to appear somewhere between 'Everyone's here but Hatake-san' and 'I guess we should all start heading off in a few minutes.' He usually had some sort of excuse, if anyone asked, but generally he would appear, eat fast, and vanish. Iruka sometimes didn't even see him leave, and almost never saw him arrive.

"Kakashi," Iruka demanded the other man's attention. He had arrived a little early today, just after Kurenai and just before Jiraiya, and had his attention focused on a small book.

"Hm! Good coffee today, Umino-san," Kakashi praised, smiling so that his eyes crinkled up into nothing but happy little up-curving lines.

Iruka wasn't in the mood, though, especially not since Gai was trumping around blowing steam about one of the newer students, Sai-kun, and his incredibly artistic flair, (What Iruka counted as new was, however, kids he hadn't known from when they were twelve.) and that recurring headache that he'd been getting lately. "Screw the coffee, Kakashi. One of your students has been injured, and badly, by that….that kid." Iruka didn't like talking down about Gaara, nor did he like the fact that he inwardly shuddered at the sight of the boy, but he'd seen too many massacred students at the hands of the dark-eyed teen to not feel frightened in his presence.

Kakashi immediately payed attention. Kakashi paying attention consisted only of him raising his eyes from that darned book and watching the talker intently, as though analysing them. It was a serious state, no less. "Who, Gaara? What did he do?"

Iruka lowed his voice, "Sasuke-kun…he hasn't been able to tell me exactly what happened, but Naruto said…said that Gaara…" Iruka couldn't bring himself to say it. The idea that the boy still carried his dreaded knife, Sabaku, with him, and that he was still just as unstable as he'd been six years ago, frightened the hell out of Iruka. Everyone thought Gaara was fine. He hadn't gone this wild in years!

Kakashi might have been a bit childish at times, and often liked to do things any way but by the book, but when it was serious, it was dead serious. He knew Gaara had done it again, for the first time in almost four years. "No one told me," He assured Iruka softly, "Thanks, Umino-san. I'll go check on him after last period…as much as he reckons I'm a boring old man, he loves me, hm?" Another smile. Not a smirk or a grin; just a goofy little smile and squinted eyes.

Iruka had to look away. Kakashi really was a pure person, with that kind of smile that makes you want to smile too, and probably keep smiling all day long. But he and Hatake-san were teachers, and associates, and…Iruka couldn't be thinking that Kakashi had a beautiful smile. Especially not in such a public setting.

"You know, I would have thought that makeup-kid could have stopped Gaara. His older brother, you know, Ka-something?" Kakashi mused, bringing the book back up to his eyes. Kankuro, he knew the kids name…he just never liked to know students names right off. He liked to let Iruka know their names.

"Kankuro-kun? Naruto said he was busy with something, he'd looked for him after he got Sasuke to the meds…" Iruka folded his arms and stuck his mouth to one side. He did that while he was thinking, and only Kakashi knew. No one else snuck so many peeks from over their novels at him to know.

"Hm, yeah, the puppet kid. You know, I thought kids grew out of that? -hm," Kakashi smiled to himself, having seen the Thinking Expression again and getting that deep, happy feeling. He never liked to hold serious conversations for too long. They always became saddening or ruined your day. He liked to change the subject, or lighten the topic.

Iruka laughed softly. He had a nice laugh, Kakashi knew. "He wears purple lipstick. Isn't that a little worse than carving wooden puppets and messing around with them in class? He's a good kid, anyway…well, good heart at least." Iruka did respect Kankuro, in a strange sense of the word. He was individual in a way that said 'this is me, and deal with it.' Besides, any man who could wear so much makeup and get away with it had to be intelligent. And…in a way, he had spent his whole life in Gaara's shadow. 'Gaara's brother'…not Kankuro. The fact that he could still treat his younger sibling with such understanding and respect was well beyond Iruka.

"Well, shit," Kakashi sighed, looking at his watch, "It's class time. Umino-san, nice talking to you," He gave that smile one more time, and made his way out of the room quickly, avoiding Gai.

"Nice talking to you," Iruka echoed, remembering at last that he'd been holding a cup of coffee. He took a sip. It was cold.

* * *

**(Sorry it took me so long to chuck this chapter up here, but I'm giving you all a double-chapter bonus to make up for it! Next chapter is Lee-centric AT LAST.**

**To all my reveiwers- I adore you all! You're my inspiration, hm.**

**Apie- lay off whatever it is you're on. Hurr. -pokes-**

**Gai sensei says reveiws are full of YOUTH.)**


	7. It's all in the Eyebrows

**Disclaimer: **All characters and places are origionally by Kishimoto. I'm not such a genious! This chapter makes me HAPPEH! (it's the youth, you see)

**Warning! **This story contains a shitload of yaoi and horrible-ness. Adult themes, yay. GaaLee, NaruSasu, KakaIru. -winkeh-

**Note: **History-making first Author Note ever. I'm reading another story which has one at the start of every chapter and I figured, hey, why not? You all get to see how my mind works then! I just liked it, and it made me much more attached to their story, too.

Hn.

Anyway, I don't know what it is, but it seems like my style changes slightly every time I do a different character…with Lee, he's such a scatter-brain I seem to go off on weird tangents, to be brought suddenly back to the story by Gai-sensei. It's kind of like first person, written in third person style…if that makes sense? I've been doing it for all of the chapters so far, and thought I'd explain it. –shrug-

I don't know why, but I love Lee's chapters…the way he thinks just makes me happy inside, and I'm having so much fun with this one. Gaara's chapters always seem to come out pointing out what's annoying and describing certain, pointless aspects of the day, like what's for breakfast, whereas, for example, Iruka's chapter was describing routines and worries and things like that. Each character describes different things about the scene…I think, later on, I might do a scene from four or five different characters and see how different it is each time. Hurr.

Rant over.

_STORY TIME NOW._

**Chapter Seven**

"**It's all in the Eyebrows"**

"Three hundred and one!" Lee exclaimed at the hight of a sit-up. "Three hundred and two! Three hundred and three!" Sweat poured down his childishly round face, and his expression never faltered from pure determination. "Three hundred and-"

"That's enough for today, Lee," Gai-sensei's voice was unexpected, and caused Lee to jump a little in shock. One the tall boy recovered, he registered what his sensei had said and laughed gratefully, jumping to his feet with a triumphant shout.

The joy was soon replaced by a little confusion, as it clicked over in his brain that Gai-sensei, _Gai-sensei_ had called off the end of his daily five-hundred. Yesterday it was five hundred push-ups, and his arms ached a little. He hadn't done push-ups or punches or much like that for a while, so the sudden strain was understandable. Therefore, an exercise which requires no arms at all was far more fitting. Lee's brain often wandered like this, and it took his sensei giving him a thumbs-up to bring him back to what was happening in front of him, rather than yesterday, and training, and school, and…

"Lee-san! It is school holidays tomorrow, are you excited?" Gai grinned, reinforcing his thumbs up by straightening his arm out a little.

Lee pouted a little. _Not really, not really,_ he thought to himself. School was good. People you knew and liked hung around you all day, and everyone was together all the time. He thought it reminded him a little of a family, all living in one big house together. It frightened Lee a little, sometimes, the idea of leaving this behind in just two years. "I am not, Gai-sensei," Lee mumbled respectfully, bowing his head a little. Sadness washed over him, feeling like he'd been laying on a beach of exercise induced bliss to have a wave of thoughts and emotions crash down upon him. It wasn't a nice feeling.

"Oh, Lee, how come!" Gai exclaimed, not so much as a question, really. "Holidays are a good time to train harder, and not have to think about studies for a whole six weeks! Then Christmas, Lee-san! You love Christmas."

Lee hung his head further, hearing _that _tone come into Gai-sensei's voice. It was a tone that suggested Lee was being foolish, and it also contained that other tone that said Gai-sensei knew what he was talking about. And he did. Lee adored Christmas, and he enjoyed training, too. Why did the holidays suddenly look so grim? "I…think…sir, what I am really worrying about is…it is…it is getting closer to the end of school. This is nearly my last year, and…I will miss…" Lee trailed off, unsure of how to explain all the things he would miss. The family, the togetherness! The having breakfast with your friends in the morning! The dorms, the teachers, the classes, the halls, the familiarity of a place he'd been for so long…it was such an empty feeling, thinking of leaving that behind. He would miss Gai-sensei, too! Of course he would. They could train together sometimes, but…it would be different, entirely, from being in school together. Having his beloved teacher with him all the time.

Then Lee thought of Gaara. How long had it been, now, since he'd wanted to befriend him? They were finally friends, and it would all be coming to an end. He would probably go back to live in Suna, with his brother and sister. Of course, he'd miss Naruto. The two were two of a kind, and the kind of friends you get once in a lifetime, but Gaara…

"Lee-san, thinking so far into the future is wasting the beautiful present! Look what a beautiful day it is today, hm? Can we know it is going to be this beautiful tomorrow? If we did, could we change that?"

Of course he was right. Puffing his chest out and turning his face to the sky, Lee saw that it _was _a beautiful day. The sky was a frosty grey and white color that reminded Lee of fields of those tiny, delicate white flowers. In fact, on the ground, there _were _flowers. They were lavender-purple, though, and half-immersed in frost. The ground had a little snow on it today, and so did the trees, but it wasn't nearly as cold as it had been a few days ago, when it had been snowing. The snow stopped last night. The air turned to fog when Lee breathed out through his mouth and hot clashed with cold. He grinned a little and breathed out harder, watching his breath materialise in front of him. "We could not," He decided, turning to the tall, handsome man beside him. They flashed matching grins and knew that the horrible feeling was gone. Gai-sensei could do that, sometimes. Make a bad mood go away.

"Gai-sensei, I want to tell you about someone." Lee said softly, watching a tiny brown bird flit about her nest, chirping happily.

"Someone important?" Gai asked, not looking at Lee. His eyes, too, were watching the bird, glee dancing in his eyes. He stood strong, with his hands on his hips, chin up and face set with a determined grin.

"Yes, sir," Lee wasn't sure how to put it. He wanted to talk about Gaara for some reason, now. A million thoughts and feelings, musings and wonderings, all wanting to spill out at once. "…Gaara. He seems so lonely, sensei, and everyone thinks I should not help," Lee's eyes switched from the bird to the sky, watching the grey-white clouds lazily float across the bright, grey-white sky, mingling and passing over and through all at once. "He did something horrible, but I do not think that I mind. He went wrong, but when he was better it did not matter what happened before. Is that weird, sensei?" Lee's focus shifted again, to Gai-sensei. The man had his head tilted slightly upwards, and was smiling mysteriously at the sky.

"Is that all you feel?" Gai-sensei asked wisely, not turning to look at Lee.

Lee fidgeted a little, looking nervous, now. "No, sensei," He whispered. "Yesterday…when…when that thing happened…when he went wrong," Lee paused, to think about how best to word it. It had been such an overwhelming feeling. "I felt like I was…I felt like he belonged to me in a way, but not really. I do not want to _own_ someone. But, it felt like I have known some side of him that is mine now, and he knows it too, but he never said that. Sensei, I am not making any sense, am I?"

Gai had his eyes closed now, and seemed to be enjoying the cold breeze that rushed across his face and through his shimmering, raven-black hair. "You _are_ making sense, Lee-san. More sense than you know,"

Lee looked over to his sensei, biting his own bottom lip. His mouth stretched and quivered as he felt the tears welling up. It was those overwhelmingly happy tears that his sensei could always make Lee cry, when he needed to. "S-sensei…" Lee whimpered, eyes shimmering with admiration and gratefulness.

Gai-sensei grinned and clapped a hand on Lee's shoulder, chortling in that overly-manly way of his.

Nothing more had to be said, so nothing more was.

* * *

**(My god I love those two. NO GAILEE FOR YOU, THOUGH. I just can't bring myself to do it. Sure, it could be a good couple (...err) but I don't think I have the capacity to make it work. They're just youthful and awesome. AWESOME. Next chapter should be relatively soon, and it's the last day of the term! That means Christmas Holidays! YAY! (no, I don't live in some freaky place where it's December right now...I'm talking about the AU! Roar.)**

**Reveiwers- part two of the double-chapter make-up. I LUB YOU ALL.**

**Shino collects reveiws and glues them into a tiny little notebook with a picture of a butterfly on it. Don't you wanna give Shino more pages to fill? Hurr.)**


	8. Friends and Friends

**Disclaimer: **Ayup, they still belong to Kishimoto Masashi. Some things never change, hey? The concept of 'feet' smell, however, is something I've coined after years of living with MY brother. ERGH. I'm sure everyone knows the smell I'm talking about.

**Warning: **Swears, Adult themes, YAOI and...all that good stuff. GaaLee, SasuNaru, KakaIru (HakuZabu! SasoDei! OroKabu XD...who KNOWS now that I've decided to throw baddies in later on!)

**Note:**Back to Gaara-kun! There's something I've never understood, and that's why I make Gaara forgetful. I never know why. He forgets little things, but sometimes BIG things, like people he should know, or places he should remember. Maybe it's a part of the fact that he still is a bit unhinged?

I love Gaara, I really do. I have such deep respect for him, and I think he's so much fun to write! His bizarre way of thinking, and his subtle personality just makes for the best scenes ever. This chapter is a lot more of a flashback chapter than anything, and it's got a bit of monologue, but it's still Gaara and Naruto's friendship, so I thought it'd be an important one to slot in!

**Chapter Eight**

"**Friends and Friends"**

Classrooms smell like feet. The concept 'feet' was a smell Gaara had defined after many years living with Kankuro, and his sweaty shoes. It was a mix of sweat, old socks, dirt and a hint of mould. Anyone who knew Gaara knew what he meant when he told them they smelt like feet.

The very first time he had set foot in the expansive Konoha State Boarding College gym, he had decided it smelt the most strongly of all the classrooms; Eu De Feet emanating from every inch of the massive room. The gym could have been incredible, had not Gaara's standards been so high.

Peering around the room today, on the last class before the Christmas holidays, he felt the faintest twang of nostalgia for the first time he'd been in the room. Familiar treadmills, exercise bikes, racks and racks of weights and the punching bags, alongside the feet smell, all caused a rush of well-forgotten memories.

Gaara had a tendency to instantly forget anything he didn't deem necessary for his memory bank. His long term memory held many shelves of old humiliations and pain, which, with a familiar place like this, were dusted off and re-opened, like a book of his lifetime that he'd long-since pushed under his bed, pages tattered and fading, but still in tact.

The very first time he'd set foot in here, he'd been the mysterious, much talked about new kid. Rumours flew back and forward about why he'd moved schools, the most popular one being a massacre; a mass murdering of student and teachers alike at Suna's Boarding College. The teacher had been the only person willing to throw Gaara a second glance, and it was a quick and frightened one too.

Each day he'd state quietly that he "didn't need to train" and was left alone, to sit and twirl the deadly blade of Sabaku between his fingers absently, contemplating murder, secretly watching everyone else's techniques for flaws.

Through simple daily observations, he'd discovered that the apparently 'all seeing' Hyuuga Neji had a blind spot, that to get a good fight out of Akimichi Choji you had to call him 'fat', that Nara Shikamaru wasn't to be underestimated in wits and tactics despite his laziness, and that Aburame Shino had been keeping cockroaches in the mouldy corner of the room without anyone else noticing.

As the days, months, and years went by, more people began to learn of Gaara's past, his present, and the terrible demon he held within, some acknowledged it, and became quietly accepting of his presence. Others only found new reason for their fear, rekindling their rumours, and knowing that Gaara could quite easily murder them without even batting an eyelid.

Being related to Gaara was not without its drawbacks either. In those days, Kankuro or Temari often had to be called down to stifle the danger of Gaara's other self, as some children found a rush in provoking the inner demon for a quick fight. Once the kids had fled, Gaara remained crazed and deadly, and one of his siblings would have to wrestle him to the floor, regardless of their own safety, regularly being mauled or stabbed in the process.

Other than the direct physical danger from their brother, the siblings also caught the backlash of Gaara-spawned rumours. It was said sometimes that they both had demons as well, or that they were twice as good at fighting as their little brother. Children often wanted to challenge Kankuro or Temari to fights, desperate to quench their curiosity about the two older siblings of Sabaku no Gaara. Kankuro never liked fighting that much, preferring to whittle his wooden puppets than throw punches, and usually ended up with hefty bruises and broken bones. Temari, on the other hand, relished in the feeling of her fist making contact with some little brat's face, and scored herself hours upon hours of detention time for 'unnecessary fighting'.

After having the wits knocked about him by Uzumaki Naruto, Gaara found himself with an entirely different outlook on his siblings. He found out about their daily struggles, and desperately apologised to the both of them for what he was putting them through. Of course, Temari and Kankuro needed no apology, having never blamed Gaara for Shukaku and the hundreds of painful memories.

These days, the world was on a gentle equilibrium with Gaara, each day coming and going without event. Shukaku hadn't emerged for nearly two years until yesterday's incident with Sasuke.

"Throw more energy into the kicks, Neji! They're your weak-point! Shikamaru! Stand up and start training! Tenten, is that a _knife _in the punching bag? Shino, where are you?" The sweaty, over-excited gym teacher had always annoyed Gaara. The all-too-familiar eyebrows and bowl-cut deeply disturbed him, and the man's exuberance and intensity grated on _everyone's_ nerves.

"Hyah!" Screamed the blonde boy near Gaara, throwing a violent kick into the punching bag before him. "Take that, you leather bastard!" He cried, throwing another kick deep into the thing.

"Naruto! This is not a room of tolerance for your foul tongue!" Gai-sensei exclaimed, flapping his hands at the indignant-looking boy before him. "No more swearing!"

Gaara scoffed under his breath, sitting with his legs folded on a press-ups bench and glaring at the air. Naruto huffed, "Don't laugh at me, raccoon-eyes, I can take you on any day!" It was true, too. Despite being a complete knucklehead, and thick as a sack of bricks, Naruto had once managed to bring Gaara down a few notches by being the only person to beat him in a fight.

"I have no intention of fighting you, Uzumaki Naruto," Gaara mumbled solemnly, "Isn't it wrong to hit a comrade?"

Naruto's eyes widened a little, "You still think of me that way?" He whispered, blue eyes fixated on Gaara's stone-cold expression. It had been a long time since the two had exchanged anything but cheap insults. A conversation was entirely new.

There was a small nod, and Gaara said, "You taught me something. You are my friend. If what you define as a friend involves eating together in the cafeteria, sharing notes in class and making stupid jokes together, then you might not think it is true, but I hold you dearly in my mind as someone who saved me." Gaara's expression shifted, but before Naruto could read it, Gaara ducked his head and looked at the ground. "I might not be your friend, but you are mine, Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto looked away, nodding a little. "Gaara…what happened with Sasuke…I don't want you to worry about it, alright? I know…I know it wasn't you, it was Shukaku."

Gaara flinched a little at the mention of both Sasuke and Shukaku, but looked up to Naruto with a tiny, grateful smile on his pale face. "Thank you, Uzumaki Naruto." He breathed feeling deeply at ease for the first time since the incident. "After everything I've put you through, you still think of me as a friend?"

Naruto sat down heavily beside the troubled red-head and nodded. "As freaky as you are, yeah. I respect you as a friend." He smiled hugely, causing his eyes to squint up, and slapped Gaara hard on the back. "Come on! We're wasting valuable training time!"

Gaara scoffed a little, "I don't _need _to train. I'm already the best in this school, and my old school."

Naruto waggled a finger in Gaara's face, "Uh, I don't think so buddy! I can flog you any time!" He gave a playful laugh, and added, "Dattebayo!" slapping Gaara on the back again.

Gaara lurched forward at the action, and couldn't help but smile to himself. "As if," He mumbled, and followed Naruto to the weight racks.

Through everything that had happened in the time that he'd known Naruto, none of it had changed the boy's attitude. He was loud, rude, childish, playful and often idiotic, but always a true friend. That kind of friend who you could always count on to jump in the way of a bullet for you, that kind of friend who never betrayed you, or thought badly of you. He was the kind of friend who'd stick up for you, no matter what, and always listen to your side of any argument. Just as it had been with his siblings, Gaara didn't immediately appreciate the incredible amount of dedication and admiration Naruto had toward him, be he could see it today, clear as glass. He had slashed Naruto's boyfriend's arm, (gouged it, more accurately) and here he was, smiling brightly and declaring his friendship and respect.

"Thank you, Naruto."

* * *

**(I figure, hey, they've shaken hands in the anime, right? Why not make them buddies? Gaara-kun's just been a grumpy brat lately.**

**Reveiwers, I adore you! Apie, lay off the sugar **

**Tobi says reveiws taste like cookies.)**

* * *

**I WANT AN OPINION!**

**There are several characters I've been thinking of appearing in the upcomming chapters, but I'm unsure as to who should be first. My options are;**

**The Akatsuki. Any and all of the nutty bastards. Itachi, Kisame, "that blue haired girl", Pein, Deidara, Sasori, Tobi, Zetsu, Hidan, Kakuzu...YAY**

**Orochimaru and the Otonin. Love the Sound Ninja?**

**OR Zabuza and Haku! They never died in this AU! Yay!**

**I'd love to hear everyone's opinions of which baddies I should slip in, and maybe even how you'd imagine them in an AU.**


	9. You and Your Boyfriend II

**Disclaimer: **Don't own them, wish I did.

**Warning: **Yaoi, uh-huh. :D GaaLee, SasuNaru, KakaIru...maybe some others later (SasoDei!! And most definately HakuZabu once I get around to introducing them...-bricked-)

**Note:**Finally, our dear Sasuke gets a little attention! Really, I've been putting off this chapter because that bloody Uchiha's personality is so impossible to put to paper! The people who can do it as good as Kishimoto amaze me. I can't draw him, either he's the hardest character to do in any aspect, in my opinion, but he still plays his bit.

Like usual, the character controls the scene…Sasuke seems to demand that I explain every emotion in the scene as expressively as possible, while not paying much attention to the background or movements.

**Chapter Nine**

"**You and Your Boyfriend II"**

"Mother? Father?"

"You are so weak. Why are you weak? Because you lack hatred…"

"Don't show me this! Brother!!"

"If you want to hate me, then do so. Run and run, survive pathetically and cling to life…"

"I don't want to die!"

"No!" Sasuke gasped, sitting up in bed. Taking a shuddering, calming breath, he slowly lay back down, shutting his eyes to the glaring white of the hospital room. His mauled arm gave a heavy throb of protest as he rolled onto his side, pulling the thin, useless hospital blankets up closer to himself.

The freezing cold and the pain were nothing compared to the knot of guilt that was, yet again, welling up in his stomach. Every time he saw the cold, heartless eyes of his older brother, he couldn't help but wish he'd been strong enough to save his parents…his cousins…his aunties and uncles. His stomach clenched tighter at the memory of the hundreds of lifeless bodies strewn across his family's estate. Clenching his fists and gritting his teeth, Sasuke slipped further into his own agony, dwelling within himself in hatred.

"Sasuke,"

The raven-haired boy jumped slightly in surprise at the new voice in his conscience. Wait, had he imagined it? The voice sounded terribly familiar…

"Sasuke, are you awake?"

Sighing heavily and closing his eyes tight, Sasuke rolled over. He opened his eyes, confirming his suspicions upon laying eyes on the maroon-haired, dark-eyed boy standing awkwardly in the doorway. "Gaara…" Sasuke mumbled tiredly, putting on the 'I just woke up' façade.

Looking unsure wether or not to come in or leave, Gaara stuffed his fidgeting hands into his pockets and lowered his eyes. "I…came to see how you were doing." He murmured under his breath.

Sasuke gave a cruel, though tired, snort. "Oh? And here I was thinking you'd come to finish me off," He scoffed rudely, shifting his body so he wasn't lying on his injured arm.

Gaara's entire face seemed to darken with this, and he turned his eyes down. "Actually, I…" He shuffled his feet a little and stepped further into the room, as though waiting to be invited in. "I…wanted to…apologize."

Sasuke's eyebrows rose slightly and he struggled into a sitting position on the ward bed. "Come in, bright eyes, sit down. You look like a scared rat standing there glancing back and forward." Swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, Sasuke rested his face in his palms, which in turn were supported by his elbows on his knees.

Gaara shuffled in, taking his pale hands out of his pockets and crossing his arms over his chest, sitting down stiffly in the tiny visitor's chair by the bed.

There was a moment where neither one could think of anything, or wanted to say anything in particular. Sasuke broke the silence by huffing, "Well?" Which was slightly muffled by his hands.

Gaara sat up a little straighter, his jaw set in a tight, slightly frightened expression. "I'm…sorry," He managed, averting his eyes from Sasuke's hunched form. "I just…I saw you and Naruto on my bed, and," He paused, thinking of a way to word the rush of feelings before he blacked out.

Sasuke lifted his face slightly, black eyes peering out at the uptight boy beside him.

"I think…what I saw hit something inside me, and…there were so many different feelings all at once…then I blacked out. There was nothing. And suddenly there I was, on the floor, with all of your blood." Gaara reset his expression to the forced calm it usually, held, as he had sensed it slipping to fear and slight insanity.

Sasuke rubbed his palms over his face tiredly and sat up straight, staring Gaara right in the eye. "Were you jealous?" He breathed, allowing a smug smile to begin creeping across his face. "Do you have a thing for Naruto?"

Gaara exploded to his feet, face wild and eyes like thunder. "Jealous!?" He raged, pale, child-like hands clenched into shivering fists.

Sasuke couldn't help but utter a snort of contempt and shaking his head, "Aw, no sorry…it was _me _wasn't it? That's why you're here? To tell me you love me and you can treat me better than Naruto?" Chuckling cruelly, Sasuke went to lay down in bed.

Before his head touched the pillow, Gaara caught him by the collar and pulled him up again. He wrenched Sasuke forward so their noses were nearly touching, and hissed dangerously, "Don't try me, Uchiha Sasuke. I came here to apologise, not to listen to your cruel Otogakure humour."

Lifting his hands in apology, Sasuke mumbled, "Sorry…can't help it."

With a huff, Gaara threw Sasuke back onto the bed, turning and beginning to pace the room, face cold again. Clutching his injured shoulder as it throbbed from the impact, Sasuke sat up in bed again. "So…I thought…_he _stopped affecting you?" Sasuke said, switching to the most serious mood he could for discussing Gaara's other half.

Honestly, since going to the back alley private school of Otogakure, or Hidden Sound, Sasuke had been having difficulty suppressing his newly acquired dry sarcasm and cruel sense of humour. It seemed to stem directly from the principal of Oto and leak throughout the entire school like some sort of disease. Being a close, personal favourite of the principal, a thin, pale man named Orochimaru, Sasuke directly absorbed those vile traits.

Gaara tensed slightly at the mention of Shukaku, and shook his head. "I don't know that he'll ever go away. Not even after that…that 'treatment' the dawn gang gave me." The dawn gang, or, more commonly referred to as the "Akatsuki", were a group of dangerous criminals who floated from city to city, seeking out people with personality disorders such as Gaara's and trying to 'steal' them. Needless to say, the 'treatment' they devised, to extract the second personality is not only dangerous, but one hundred percent deadly. If an elder of Gaara's hometown had got there a moment later, here surely would have been dead.

Sasuke tensed in turn, hearing the mention of the dawn gang immediately flew his thoughts back to his brother, who was one of the first members of the gang that Konoha came into contact with, alongside his counterpart, a bizarre man named Kisame. "I remember Sakura telling me…" He breathed, turning his eyes down a little. "I'm…sorry."

"No," Gaara objected blankly, turning his dark eyes once more to the Uchiha. "Everyone forgot. And that's how I want it to stay. The Akatsuki are dangerous and mislead. This…this whatever it is isn't something you can just pull out of me, and…they tried to. I was dead, Chiyo-baachan said, and I don't want too many people to know that."

"But…you _were _able to control him better…weren't you?" Sasuke asked, still trying to push his brother out of his mind.

Feeling slightly better, Gaara moved back to his seat and sat down again, frowning inwardly. "Yes. But…I think the jolt in my system suppressed whatever causes _him_. Air being cut off to my brain, stuff like that." He shook his head and touched the scar on his forehead absently, staring blankly at a spot on the wall.

Sasuke lay back down in bed and shut his eyes, curling into the thin blankets against the cold. "Look, Gaara…thanks. Thanks for coming in and talking. You actually saved me from a pretty uncool nightmare. And…don't worry about my arm. I get it." He smiled, without opening his eyes, knowing Gaara would understand.

Gaara gulped slightly and nodded. "You know about…Naruto's other half?"

Sasuke couldn't help but give an Otogakure snort of laughter again. "We've been going out for a long time. Of course I know. I mean, though, he can control it heaps better than you can because…because of whatever that treatment he went through was. 'Sealing' or something. Seals away the other half,"

Gaara looked away. "I don't think my dad would have liked the idea of sealing him away. He liked the idea of how scared people would be if he had a born killer for a child…then he got scared himself." Gaara heaved a sigh and shook his head.

Sasuke opened his eyes slowly to peer at Gaara. "Thank you," He mumbled sincerely.

"Huh, why?" Gaara asked, eyes fixed on something in the distance.

"For understanding him. Not even I understand Naruto sometimes…but you do. You're the _same, _and I appreciate that."

Gaara turned his aqua eyes back to Sasuke, a faint smile tracing his lips. "Thank you for understanding me, Uchiha Sasuke." He said quietly. "And I really…really am sorry about your arm."

Sasuke nodded, before suddenly remembering, "Hey, so _were_ you jealous or what?" He asked.

Gaara blushed slightly and shook his head. "No, not of either of you…of…of what you were doing. I felt like I saw someone else for a moment, then I felt cold, then lonely…and _angry. _I wish I could understand."

Sasuke grinned slowly, knowing the problem right away. Gaara and Lee, huh? Who would have thought. "It's okay, Gaara. I'm pretty sure you might soon."

Nodding and bowing before he left Sasuke to get some much needed sleep, Gaara left the hospital ward of Konohagakure College.

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**(Hey, everyone! Sorry for such a freaking long wait...I've just been putting off this chapter alot since it's so Sasu-teme centric XD anyways next chapter will possibly be Kiba centric or the introduction of Zabuza and Haku. wewt!**

**Shukaku eats reveiws for breakfast...and we all know how breakfast is the most important meal of the day:D)**


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